With the name Coby Bryant, many NFL fans immediately wonder if the Seattle Seahawks defensive back is related to Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.
Well, the answer is no. While the two professional athletes aren’t related, they do have an interesting connection. And while Coby has no ties to the NBA icon, he is related to a former professional athlete. Let’s break down Coby’s family, his pro-athlete brother, his NFL journey, and more.
Coby Bryant and Kobe Bryant Are Not Related
While Coby isn’t related to Kobe, his parents decided to name him after the Lakers legend, with a slight twist. They opted to spell Coby differently to give their son a unique identity while honoring the player they admired.
That namesake takes on fresh significance today, with Bryant and the Seahawks playing the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.
Born March 29, 1999, Coby entered the world just as Kobe was ascending to superstardom. Bryant would win his first of three consecutive championships in June 2000.
Coby’s parents, Ronnie and Tanisha Bryant, wanted their son to carry something from the player who embodied a relentless work ethic.
“My parents loved Kobe Bryant and everything he brought to the table, not only as an athlete but as a human being himself and how he carried himself,” Bryant told reporters after being drafted in 2022. “So that’s somebody that they ultimately knew right away that that was somebody they wanted to name me after.”
Coby wears No. 8 as a way to pay tribute to the Lakers legend, who wore that jersey number for the first half of his NBA career. Coby switched to No. 8 during the 2021 College Football Playoff at Cincinnati to honor his namesake, who died in January 2020, and he decided to stick with it as a pro.
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Drafted in the fourth round in the 2022 NFL Draft as a cornerback, Coby eventually moved to safety. When Rayshawn Jenkins was placed on injured reserve with a hand injury before Week 7, Bryant seized the starting job. This season, he’s recorded four interceptions while helping anchor the third-best defense in the NFL, according to PFSN’s Defense Impact Metric.
The Seahawks earned the NFC’s No. 1 seed and had home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Seattle demolished San Francisco 41-6 in the Divisional Round and then took care of the Rams in the NFC Championship Game. Bryant and Co. in the secondary have given Mike Macdonald’s defense the versatility to disguise coverages and create havoc.
Kobe never backed down from a challenge, and Coby Bryant has done the same.
Get to Know Coby Bryant’s Professional-Athlete Brother
While Coby has no relation to Kobe, he is related to a former NFL player: Christian Bryant, who is his older brother. Christian played safety at Ohio State from 2010 to 2013 before being selected by the St. Louis Rams in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Christian appeared in 12 games over two seasons with the Rams and Cardinals before injuries ended his career prematurely.
The brothers came up through Glenville High School in Cleveland, coached by Ted Ginn Sr., the father of former NFL receiver Ted Ginn Jr. The program has produced a pipeline of professional talent, and Christian’s experience became Coby’s roadmap.
“He’s been the best big brother I could ever ask for,” Coby said during his time at Cincinnati. “Christian taught and still teaches me a lot. Each week, I’m asking him something about school or about something on the field.”
That mentorship helped Coby develop his game and toughness. At Cincinnati in 2018, Bryant played nine games with a cast on his fractured hand. He went on to win the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back in 2021, becoming just the second non-Power Five player to claim the honor.
When asked before the 2022 NFL Draft if carrying Kobe’s name added pressure, Bryant responded, “Not really pressure, more of a privilege, honestly. It just means I have to work twice as hard to live up to that name and set a name for myself as well too and, most importantly, represent him as well as I can.”
Today at Levi’s Stadium, Bryant plays on his biggest stage yet. He’s named after one of basketball’s fiercest competitors and most clutch performers, and now he’s just one win away from doing something that Kobe did often: winning championship rings.
